Toy



S. L.. LONG May l5, '1945;

TOY

Filed April 24, 1944 Patented May 15, 1945 UNITEDy PATENT OFFICE 2,376,26r y' l TOY Y n Sidney L. Long,Minneapolis, Minn. l ApplicationAprilZfl'; 1944, Serial No. 532,520

iaclaims. 01; lic-139)' My present invention relates to improvements in toys and, more particularly, to' a mechanical action toy.

The main objectofthis inventionl is'to provide novel means for imparting natural dancing movement to the figure of a loosely jointed inanimate person.

A- further object of the invention is` to impart'variable lateral swaying'movernent tothe dancing figure in. addition to forward andfbackward movements. f

Another yobject of the'inventionl is to provide an inexpensive toy'thatv can b'e disassembledsimply by relativel movement of certain parts of the toyv and' assembled in compact form for ship- Otherobjects ofthe invention will be` apparentfiom the'followingdescription', reference bej ingV had to the' drawing. Y

To the'aboveend, generally stated, thev invention consists lof tlienoveldevices'andcombination of devices hereinafter' described' and defined' inV Fig.- 4- is a view partlyv in side lelevation and,V

partly in section taken on the line 4-r4`of'lFig. 2. The numeralfEr indicates a base on which is mounted'a frame' 5'; This frame 5' comprising' a pair of upright side members 'I is rigidly secured.

to a spacing block 8y which, in, turn, is rigidly secured to the base 5. j

A' toothed wheel 9' is mounted between the frame side members'l. This wheel 9 comprises a pair of laterally spaced flat square members Ill secured at their centers t'o a spacing block I I. Gne ofthe wheel members I0 is turned about its axis relative to the other wheel member I0 to position its corners midway between the corners of said other wheel member. In this arrangement ofthe wheel member 'Ltheir corners afford circumferentiallyl spaced teeth I2 that are staggeredl The wheel 9: is mounted onya/ shaft vI3y that rextends through aligned holes in the wheel members Illand'the spacing block I I. This shaft I3 is journaled in the frame side members l. A hand crank I4 for turning'thewheell 9 is securedto one of the end portions of thev shaft I3.

. of like movement of saidlever.

ItY will. be noted/that one of the teeth of each wheel member I0 is cut off or flattened at I5 and-these. two teeth are circumferentially spaced from each other. The lattened surface I5 of the respective' teeth I2A are. diierent distances from ther axis of the wheel' 9; for a'purpose that willlhereinafter' appear'.v

A lever I6 is intermediately fulcrumed on the upper end of a post ITv secured to the base 5. The upper end of the post' I-Ifis roundedand extendsinto a concaveseat I8? in the under side of the lever IS. Obviously', the rounded upper end of the post II and the seat IB afford aball and socket joint between the lever I6 and the post I'Il A' pivot pin I9' on the upper end of the postf I'I loosely extends through a hole in the lever I Ek and limits the movement' of' said lever onthe post I'I. The lever Iis upwardly inclined fromtlie frame' and its lower end portion-extended between the frame side members 'I with working clearance. Said lever I6 extends under the wheel 9" and isheld by one ofitsl teeth I2.. The upper face of the lever is 'at' and opposite longitudinalI marginalportions thereof are successively engaged by alternate teethy I2? during rotation of the wheel Ilf- Said lever lat its upper endfportion is much heavier than the lower end portiony thereof and thereby yieldingly holdsA said lever at its lower end in engagement with the Ateeth I2.

In front of the upper end of the lever I6 ,is the gure of a loose-jointed inanimate person 20'. The arms 2I of the figure 2U are pivoted thereto and said arms at their outer ends are rigidly secured at 22tothe respective end of the lever I6. y y

These arms 2I, which are rigidly secured to the lever AI5 onl opposite sides thereof partake This attachment of the figure 2I'Ito theflever I6 imparts positive lateral swayingl movement to said figure under the transverse rocking movement of the lever I6. But at they same time` the gure 2B is free to swing in the, plane of the lever I6, on the pivots which connect the arm 2I to saidJ gure.

As the circumferentially spaced staggered teeth I2 successively engage the lever I6, teeter action is imparted to said lever aswell as transverse rocking movement. Obviously, the two teeth I2`; having the flattened surfaces I5, impart diilerent degrees of movement to the' lever IG, both longitudinally and transversely, overthat imparted thereto by the other teeth I2.

By reference-to Figs..2 and 3, it willbe noted that the frame l and the post I1 are offset from the transverse center of the base 5. This arrangement of the parts on the base 5 brings the hand crank I4, as well as the frame 6 and the post Il between parallel planes at the longitudinal edges of the base 5 to facilitate the packing of the toy. I'o disassemble the toy, when packing' the same, it is only necessary to lift thev lever I6 from the pivot pin I9 and withdraw the lever I6 from between the side frame members 1.

It will be understood that the invention described is capable of various modifications within the scope of the invention herein disclosed and claimed.

What I claim is:

1. A toy of the class described, comprising an inanimate figure, a base, a frame and a post on the base, a member intermediately loosely pivoted on the post, said :ligure being attached to said member at one end thereof for relative pivotal movement and for common movement transversely of said pivotal movement, a shaft journaled o-n the frame, a pair of laterally spaced rectilinear members on the shaft, the corners of said pair of members affording teeth, the teeth on said pair of members beingstaggered for engaging the other end portion of the pivoted member on opposite sides of the pivot for pivotally moving the same and also for rocking the pivoted member transversely of its pivotal movement, and means for rotating the shaft.

2. In a toy of the class described, an inanin mate figure, a support, a lever for imparting action to the figure, said lever being mounted on the support for compound pivotal and transverse rocking movements, a frame, a rotatable shaft on the frame having laterally and circumferem tially spaced teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and rocking movements thereto, and means for rotating the shaft.

A 3. In a toy of the class described, an inanimate figure, a support, a lever for imparting action to the figure, said lever being mounted on the support for compound pivotal and transverse rocking movements, a frame, a rotatable shaft on the frame having laterally and circumferentially spaced teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and rocking movements thereto, the laterally spaced teeth being staggered, and means for rotating the shaft.

4. In a toy of the class described, an inanimate gure, a support, a lever for imparting action to the figure, said lever being mounted on the support for compound pivotal and transverse rocking movements, a frame, a rotatable shaft on the frame having laterally and circumferentially spaced teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and rocking movements thereto,

certain rof said teeth having different radii, and

means for rotating the shaft.

5. In a toy of the class described, an inanimate figure, a support, a lever for imparting action to said `ligure, said lever being mounted on the support for compound pivotal and transverse rocking movements, a frame, a rotatable shaft on the frame having two laterally spaced series of circumferentially spaced teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and rocking movements thereto, and means for rotating the shaft.

6. In a toy of the class described, an inanimate figure, a support, a lever for imparting action to said figure, said lever being mounted on the support for compound pivotal and transverse rocking movements, a frame, a rotatable shaft on the frame having two laterally spaced series of circumferentially spaced teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and rocking movements thereto, the two series of teeth being on opposite sides of the lever and staggered, the radii of one of the teeth in one of the series being different from the radii of the other teeth of the respective series, and means for rotating the shaft.

7. In a toy of the class described, an inanimate figure, 'a support, a lever for imparting action to said figure, said lever being mounted on the support for compound pivotal and transverse rocking movements, a frame, a rotatable shaft on the frame having two laterally spaced Series of cir cumferentially spaced teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and transverse rock ing movements thereto, the two series of teeth being on opposite sides of the lever and staggered, the radii of one of the teeth in each series being different from the radii of the other teeth of the two series, and means for rotating the shaft.

8. In a toy of the class described, an inanimate ligure, a support, a leverfor imparting action to said ligure, said lever being mounted on the support for compound pivotal and transverse rocking movements, a frame. a rotatable shaft on the frame, a pair of laterally spaced rectilinear members on the shaft, the corners of said members affording teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and rocking movements thereto, the teeth of said members being staggered, and means for rotating the shaft.

9. In a toy of the class described, an inanimate figure.' a support, a lever for imparting action to said gure, said lever being mounted on the support for compound pivotal and transverse rocking movements. a frame. a rotatable shaft on the frame, a pair of laterally spaced rectilinear members on the shaft, the corners of said members affording teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and rocking movements thereto, the teeth of said members being staggered. the pointed portion of one of the teeth ofeach memn ber being cut off, and means for rotating the shaft.

10. In a toy of the class described, an inanimate figure. a support a lever for imparting action to said figure. said lever being mounted on the suoport for compound pivotal and transverse rocking movement. a frame. a rotatable shaft on the frame. a pair of laterallv spaced members on the shaft, the corners of said members affording teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and rocking movements thereto, the teeth of said members beiner staggered, the pointedmortion of one ofthe teeth of. each member beine.r cut off. the two cut off teeth being circumferentially spaced apart, and means for rotating the shaft.

11. In a toy of the class described, an inanimate figure.r a support. a lever for imparting action to said figure said lever being intermediately mounted on the support for compound pivotal and transverse rockiruT movements. a frame. e rotatable shaft on the frame having laterally and circumferentially spaced teeth operative on the lever for imparting said pivotal and rocking movement thereto, one end portion of the lever vbeing attached to the figure and the other end portion thereof loosely extending under the teeth and .Vieldirlely held to be contacted thereby, and means for rotating the shaft.

l2. In a toy of the class described, a base. a frame and a post on the base, a member mounted 13. In a toyvof the class described, a wheel having teeth that are circumferentially spaced and staggered transversely of the wheel, means. for operating the Wheel, an inanimate figure, a

member for imparting action to the figure, said member being loosely fulcrumed for pivotaly movement in the plane of the Wheel andA for rocking movement transversely thereof, said member being yieldingly held relative to the wheel, so

that its teeth successively engage the member and impart said pivotal and rocking movements thereto.

SIDNEY L. LONG. 

